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Topic: What computer and monitor setup do u have for Post Production? (Read 25602 times)

webexpert

Since I use a lot of Photoshop to modify photos I have found extremely convenient the use of a projector (in addition to my 24in. Samsung monitor). Although the monitor is better for achieving better color correction , for image manipulation with a watcom tablet the projector (HD Epson) is much better in a dark room .

Im using a nothing-special samsung 22" display, seems to be calibrated well. My machine is a pc, home made 6-core 8gb ram, AMD 5770 card(getting old now, but it handles overclocking very well, so it is still fast)and I have windows and all my programs on a SSD(solid state drive) which makes them so fast it is like they are stored in memory already! I use a standard SATA for storage tho. High precicion laser mouse is a must too. I run everything overclocked and have a lot of cooling. My case, dvd drive, keyboard, speakers are all 6 years old, and upgrading the rest to be very able was very cheap, Thats why I like PC. upgrades are cheap

While my macbook pro is loaded up, and doing fine...for fun, I'm thinking about building myself a "hackintosh" desktop....something with some REAL power behind it....

Has anyone else here played with one of these? I figure with multiple, multi-threaded processors, tons of ram....render times would be almost nil.....

C

The hackintosh's I've seen are always loaded with bugs and few run well. You better off buying a Mac if you like OSX.

Otherwise Win7 Pro Runs all the Adobe software nicely.

I disagree. I've built two and they have barely any issues. The only one that's slightly annoying is not having the ability to sleep. Otherwise I have full optical audio, 3d, cuda support, etc. And my quad core (8 threads) w/24GB ram crushes in Lightroom/Photoshop.

If you attempt to build one just make sure you do your homework on hardware. Most problems can be avoided by choosing configurations that have been tried and working. visit tonymac's web site for help.

While my macbook pro is loaded up, and doing fine...for fun, I'm thinking about building myself a "hackintosh" desktop....something with some REAL power behind it....

Has anyone else here played with one of these? I figure with multiple, multi-threaded processors, tons of ram....render times would be almost nil.....

C

The hackintosh's I've seen are always loaded with bugs and few run well. You better off buying a Mac if you like OSX.

Otherwise Win7 Pro Runs all the Adobe software nicely.

I disagree. I've built two and they have barely any issues. The only one that's slightly annoying is not having the ability to sleep. Otherwise I have full optical audio, 3d, cuda support, etc. And my quad core (8 threads) w/24GB ram crushes in Lightroom/Photoshop.

If you attempt to build one just make sure you do your homework on hardware. Most problems can be avoided by choosing configurations that have been tried and working. visit tonymac's web site for help.

I haven't yet read any other reply, so I don't know if anyone else has touched upon any general ideas about the OP's question. There are two different ideas I would offer, one to suggest a monitor that meets his $1,000.00 limit, and another which discusses the framework for a truly workable PP set-up.

First of all, the way things stand now, you want a monitor which uses an IPS panel. Sometimes it is difficult to find out what type of panel any given monitor uses, as manufacturers don't always disclose this. The differentiating characteristic of the IPS panels is an evenness of illumination when your viewing angle changes from straight center to off-center, either vertically or horizontally, plus IPS panels are capable of displaying a greater color space than most other panel construction types as well. Second, you want a monitor that has been well made with a non-defective panel and superior electronics and adjustability. Third, a monitor for this kind of work should be 24" or larger, if you want to work at convenient image sizes. Last, the best monitors for PP also are capable of displaying a color space near or equal to 100% of either Adobe RGB or at least the sRGB space. Eizo, NEC, Dell, HP, and perhaps some others make several monitors which fit this description, and some of them are under $1,000.00. Look up reviews and tech specs to judge what looks best for yourself.

Keep in mind that what you do with your pictures may be decisive in picking a monitor. For instance, if you will never routinely have any of your pictures published on an offset or other kind of commercial printing press that requires a display color outside of sRGB - like some of the subtractive CMYK-type colors that fall outside it - you will not need a monitor which displays a color space "bigger" than 95% or 100% of sRGB, and these monitors will usually be less expensive than the ones which cover the Adobe RGB space. Last, as with many otherwise good IPS panels sold today, one must be careful to avoid accepting one with color that displays "unevenly" across the screen (if you display a full-screen neutral gray rectangle in Photoshop, does it look like the same color from left-to-right?). Just a small unevenness is inevitable, a really noticeable difference is unacceptable. This is a common manufacturing defect because of how the panels are constructed. Last, you should also purchase a monitor calibration package, consisting of a colorimeter or spectraphotometer and matching software from X-rite or other reputable companies. This is a necessity to get your monitor to display properly so that what you see is actually what your file should really look like.

As for what I use, it is an NEC 30" 3090, complete with the NEC-customized colorimeter and matching Spectravision II software that goes with it. This combination is extremely good, plus it allows me to instantly switch between stored and very accurate monitor profiles like sRGB and Adobe RGB that the software, especially tuned to the monitor, can pretty easily produce. The color consistency is very good across the screen (a first one, returned to the seller, wasn't as good in this regard), evenness of illumination is very good, color accuracy, sharpness, geometry, contrast and brightness range are all excellent.

First of all, I'm now a PC guy who used to be a Mac guy, but Macs are great too, so my example here can be replicated or bettered on either a new PC or a Mac, depending on your own preferences; either one can be a great machine for PP. My computer is an exceptionally good custom made PC (made by highly regarded builder Puget Custom Computers a few years ago). It runs Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate and tons of graphics software. It's got an i7 960 3.2 GHz processor, an Nvidia GTX570 video card (newly added), 24 GB main memory, 4 drives (2 160GB solid state drives plus 2 fast 2TB 7200 rpm disk drives), USB 2 and 3 ports, a Blu-Ray burner, lots of very silent high capacity cooling, and a few other things as well, like an external attached 5-bay 10 TB Drobo for backup. You don't necessarily need something this complex and expensive. However, just remember that if you try to buy one that is just barely adequate, it will be out-dated and ill suited to the future that much faster than a better specified one. Buy the best you can afford, so that you can run it longer without being crippled in your workflow.

The best rule of thumb for most computer components is this: figure out what types of components (by general performance and function characteristics) that you need and, whenever possible - except where it might affect reliability and longevity - buy the second best or fastest, not the very best or fastest, performing component in that category; this method will give you the longest possible use of your computer at a fairly reasonable price.

my system is getting slightly older... but recent upgrades helped a lot--------recent upgrade:Dell 3011 monitor .... like the space... colors are close...comes with a sort of calibration from factory..I dont print...just check my colors against a few reference photos...close enough for meI had a 2408 Dell for a long while....it was really great...gave to girlfriend

the 3011 is pretty nice ...no issues at all

been using Lightroom (now 4.2) since it startedplus Faststone....... just these two programs for photos

Corsair caseSabertooth X58Intel Core i7 970 Hexcore 3.2GHz (Corsair liquid cooled)GeForce GTX 570 (1.25 gb of 1900 MHz ram is way overkill but I let seti@home use my machine when idle)24 gig corsair ram (I have maxed it out, but I think there is a memory leak in cs6)1/4 TB crucial M4 SSD for OS and Applications (a must for running LR4 and CS6 in my book)and 2TB Barracuda for my storage (plus various other HDs from older machines). I use an external HD for backups.

I have a Windows 7 pro experience score of 7.7 and I just can't say enough about this settup. However color is really important to me and the 22" proview monitor my wife was using before I built this monster was NOT cutting it. If you changed viewing angle the colors and blacks/whites all shifted. So I found the HP ZR30w IPS display and after calibrating it we get perfect prints from Mpix every time now. I flipped the 22" into portait mode and use it as the second display. The F11 second display mode in LR4 (I use grid zoomed to two pics wide) is tits in portrait mode!

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to equip my wife with the best I could and I anticipate loving this system for quite a while still.

I currently have a hp envy 17-3d with the 1080p tn panel and it is good but was curious what reasonable desktop setups were being used most importantly monitors that do not cost $1k +. It must be windows sorry but I get all the software free. Also if you use a laptop which model?

Thanks.

First thing - If you want a good, comparatively cheap monitor for editing - the Dell U2410 is a great choice.

Okay, on to my setup:For mobile, I have a Dell Precision M4600 workstation w/ 15.6" 1080P TN (70% AdobeRGB) panel. The internals could be beefier - my unit is only dual core (i5 @ 2.6GHz), 4GB RAM - although the chassis is quad-core ready and good for up to 32GB RAM, should I ever get the upgrade bug. AMD FirePro M5950 graphics card, Storage is an Intel 160GB SSD, and I've thrown a copy of Adobe LR4 on it. The LCD, while not IPS, is still better than 95% of the laptop screens I've seen - really, it's a pretty great panel (although my desktop IPS and S-PVA display blow it away). The laptop was a kick butt deal at $830 refurb'ed (including a 3 year warranty) from Dell Outlet.

At home I use a self-built desktop. It's getting long in the tooth and a rebuild is imminent (waiting for Windows 8...), but here are the current (relevant) specs: